Funding from AFA insurance company to Stem Therapy scientists

2010-12-13

Professor Zaal Kokaia and Associate Professor David Bryder from Lund Stem Cell Center, members of the Stem Therapy program, received 6 and 5 million SEK, respectively for their projects in the field of stem cell-based regenerative medicine.

Zaal Kokaia and David Bryder

- This is collaborative project and we together with cardiologist Professor Stefan Jovinge will develop methods for stroke and myocardial infarction treatment based on the transplantation of progenitors derived from ES and iPS cells or modulation of endogenous stem cells. We believe that these cells have the ability to restore the damaged tissue and thus support the brain or the heart to improve impaired function " - said Zaal Kokaia.

David Bryder will collaborate with Niels-Bjarne Woods, Johan Richter, Stefan Karlsson and study how iPS cells derived from skin fibroblasts for stem cell therapy purposes are affected by age. If the iPS cells are obtained from a patient's own cells and used for patients with age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer, it is essential that the function of these cells is not deteriorated with age.

These grants are the part of AFA's five-year research program called Regenerative Medicine. The goal of this new area of research is to develop methods for replacing cells and tissues lost through disease with new cells. AFAs research program is a total of 60 million. Out of ten researcher proposals which received funding from AFA insurance company, three are from the Medical Faculty at Lund University.

• Read more about the Stem Therapy research program